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tbe Rubaiyat of a 
Persian Kitten 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR 



The Rubaiyat of a Persian Kitten. 

With illustrations by the author. $1.00 
r.et (postage extra). 

More Animals. With illustrations and cover 
design by the author. $1.00 net. 

Overheard in a Garden. With illus- 
trations and cover design by the author. 

$1.25. 

A Child's Primer of Natural History. 
Illustrated by the author. $1.25. 

The Bashful Earthquake. With many 

illustrations by the author. $1.25. 



Zbc 

Rubatyat 

of a 

Persian Kitten 



By 

Oliver f)erford 



% 




]Sew Yorh • Charles Scribner's Sons 
JMcmiv 



£ 



LIBRARY cf CONG 
Twu Copies fiecaived 

NUV 19 1904 
Gopynertt fcntry 

CLASS ^- XXc. No; 

/Of <f O £ 

COPY B. 



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7<d s 



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Copyright, 1 904, by 
Oliver F>erford 



The DeVinnf Press 






Cbe Rubaiyat of a 
Persian Kitten 



7ZTake ! for the Golden Cat bas 
\JU put to flight 
The JYIouse of Darkness 

with bis paw of Ligbt : 
Cdbicb means, in plain and 

simple every-day 
dnoriental Speecb — 'Cbe Dawn 

is brigbt. 



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Cbey say the 6arly Bird tbe 
Cdorm shall taste. 
Then rise, O Kitten ! CHberef ore, 

sleeping, waste 
The fruits of Virtue ? Quick ! 

the 6arly Bird 
Cdill soon be on tbe flutter — O 

make baste ! 



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Che 6arly Bird has gone, and 
with him ta'en 
T3be 6arly Cdorm — Hlas! the 

]Yloral 's plain, 
O Senseless Cdorm ! 'Cbus, 

thus we are repaid 
for Garly Rising — X shall doze 

again. 



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Che )Y[ouse makes merry 'mid 
the Larder Shelves, 
Zbc Bird for Dinner in the 

Garden delves, 
I often wonder what the 

creatures eat 
One half so toothsome as they 

are themselves. 








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in ww im— — I 



Hnd that Inverted Bowl of 
Sfcyblue Delf 
That helpless lies upon the 

pantry Shelf — 
Lift not your eyes to It for 

help, for It 
Is quite as empty as you are 

yourself. 







I 








Cbe Ball no question makes of 
Hyes or ftaes, 
But right or left, as strikes the 

Kitten, goes; 
Yet why, altbo' I toss it far 

Hfield, 
It still returnetb — 6oodness 

only knows! 



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H Secret presence that my 
likeness feigns, 
Hnd yet, quicksilver-like, eludes 

my pains — 

In vain X look for F)im 

behind the glass ; 
F>e is not there, and yet f)e still 

remains. 



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TZTbat out of airy JNfotbing to 
Wl invoke 

H senseless Something to resist 

the stroke 
Of unpermitted paw — upon 

the pain 
Of everlasting penalties — if 

broke. 



I sometimes think the pussy- 
willows grey 
Hre Hngel Kittens who have lost 

tbeir way, 
Hnd every Bulrush on the 

river bank 
H Cat-'Cail from some lovely 

Cat astray. 






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Sometimes I think perchance 
that Hllah may, 
Qdhen he created Cats, have 

thrown away 
'Che Cails f)e marred in 

making, and they grew 
Co Cat^Cails and to pussy- 
willows grey. 



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mm*»*m*M-\ hum ill ifiiirfcMifal 






Hud lately, when X was not 
feeling fit, 
Bereft alike of piety and CClit, 
'Cbere came an Hngel Shape 

and offered me 
H fragrant plant and bid me 

taste of it* 









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*T^was that reviving F>erb, 
V-/ that Spicy Glccd, 
Zbc Cat-]Sip, Tbo' 'tis good in 

time of need, 
Hb, feed upon it lightly, for 

who knows 
"Co what unlovely antics it may 

lead. 



8trange — is it not? — that of 
the numbers who 
Before me passed this Door of 

Darkness thro', 
Not one returns thro' it again, 

altbo' 
Ofttimes X 've waited here an 

hour or two. 










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t T w is but a 'Cent where takes 
V/ bis one ]Higbt's Rest 
H Rodent to tbe Realms of 

Deatb addressed, 
3Qben Cook, arising, looks for 

bim and tben — 
Baits, and prepares it for 

anotber Guest, 



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Cbey say the Lion and the 
Lizard keep 
'Cbe Courts where jfamsbyd 

gloried and drank deep. 
The Lion is my cousin ; I 

don't know 
(Hbo jfamsbyd is— nor sball it 

break my sleep. 



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Impotent glimpses of the 
6ame displayed 
Upon the Counter — temptingly 

arrayed ; 
FHtber and tbither moved or 
checked or weighed, 
Hnd one by one back in the Ice 

Chest laid. 



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i mrw -n n n i - m 1(1 



77Tbat if tbe Sole could fling 

Wl the Ice aside, 

Hnd with me to some Hrea's 

haven glide — 
3Here 't not a Shame, were 't 

not a shame for it 
In this Cold prison crippled to 

abide ? 



..- ■ --"*■" >: 






Some for the Glories of the 
Sole, and Some 
]VIew for the proper Bowl of 

JMilk to come. 
Hb, take the fish and let your 

Credit go, 
Hnd plead the rumble of an 

empty "Cum* 





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///Nne thing is certain: tbo' this 
/A/ Stolen Bite 



Should be my last and Cdratb 

consume me quite, 
One taste of It within the Hrea 

caught 
Better than at the 'Cable lost 

outright. 



Indeed, indeed Repentance oft 
before 
I swore, but was I hungry when 

t swore? 
Hnd then and then came Cook 
— with Rose in band — 
Hnd drowned my glory in a 

sorry pour. 



TZWbat without ashing bitbcr 
WA harried whence, 
Hnd without ashing whither 

harried hence — 
O, many a taste of that 

forbidden Sole 
jVIust down the memory of that 

Insolence, 




1 






neaven, but the vision of a 
flowing Bowl; 
Hnd F)ell, the sizzle of a frying 

Sole 
Heard in the hungry Darkness, 

where JVIyself , 
So rudely cast, must impotently 

roll. 



Cbe Vine bas a tough fibre 
wbicb about 
CGbilc clings my Being; — let tbe 

Canine flout 
Oil bis Bass Voice be pitcbed 

to sucb loud key 
It sball unlock tbe door I mew 

witbout. 




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ap from the Basement to the 
Seventh flat 
X rose, and on the Crown of 

fashion sat, 
Hnd many a Ball unravelled 

by the way — 
But not the Raster's angry Bawl 

of "Scat!" 



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ben to the Cdell of CCUsdom X 
— and lo! 
Cditb my own paw I wrought to 

make it flow, 
Hnd 'Oris was all the Harvest 

that I reaped: 

CHe come like Kittens and like 

Cats we go, 



77Thy be this Ink the fount of 
VII (Hit?— who dare 
Blaspheme the glistening pen- 
drink as a snare ? 
H Blessing? — X should spread 

it, should I not? 
Hnd if a Curse — why, then upset 

it! — there! 



H moment's fialt, a 
momentary T^aste 
Of Bitter, and amid the trickling 

(Haste 
I wrought strange shapes from 

JYIah to jVIahi, yet 
X know not what X wrote, nor 

why they chased. 




1 






l^ow I beyond the pale am 
I 1 safely past. 
O, but the long, long time tbeir 

Rage sball last, 
(flbicb, tbo' tbey call to supper, 

X sball beed 
Hs a Stone Cat sbould beed a 

pebble cast. 







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nd that perverted Soul 
beneath the Shy 



Hbey call the Dog — freed not bis 

angry Cry; 
]Vot all bis ^Cbreats can make 

me budge one bit, 
f»Jor all bis empty Bluster 

terrify. 



« „. MMHM »*w- 



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••raHMMIMMH 



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Chey are no other than a 
moving Show 
Of whirling Shadow Shapes that 

come and go 
JYIe-ward thro' JYIoon illumined 

Darkness hurled, 
tn midnight, by the Lodgers in 

the Row, 




ttMaaMwKwwavxawwftMXK »J 



I 



lVTIyself wben young did eagerly 
I ▼! frequent 
The Backyard fence and beard 

great Hrgument 
Hbout it, and Hbout, yet 

evermore 
Came out witb fewer fur tban in 

I went. 






~ 













—— r 



Hb, me ! if you and X could 
but conspire 
"Co grasp tbis Sorry Scbeme of 

tbings entire, 
Qlould we not sbatter it to 

bits, and tben 
Bnfold it nearer to our F)eart's 

Desire? 







' 



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'9 



Cbo' Zwo and *Cwo make four 
by rule of line, 
Or they make twenty-two by 

Logic fine, 
Of all tbe figures one may 

fatbom, X 
Sball ne'er be floored by anytbing 

but f^ine. 



Hnd fear not lest Gxistence 
shut the Door 

On Y ou ar| d N e > t° °P en ft no 

more. 

The Cream of Life from out 
your Bowl shall pour 
fJine times— ere it lie broken on 

the floor. 



1 



8 



o t if the fisb you Steal — the 
Cream you drink — 
6nds in what all begins and ends 

in, T^binh, 
Unless tbe Stern Recorder 

points to JVine, 
Vbo f *Cbey would drown you — 
still you sball not sink. 



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